1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle slide-door supporting structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some vehicles have a slide door which is slid in their front and rear directions, as a side door that opens and closes an opening through which passengers get into and out of a vehicle. Herein, the opening is formed in the side part of a vehicle body. Such a slide door is used, especially for the rearmost side door in the vehicle. The slide door has generally been used for a so-called one-box car or one-and-half box car, and the like. A slide door like this needs to be smoothly slid along a predetermined track. To do that, a guide rail is provided which extends in the front and rear directions in the side part of the vehicle body. Into the guide rail, a door support member provided in the slide door is fitted so that it can be slid. In this case, the opening through which passengers get into and out of the vehicle is usually opened by sliding rearward the slide door which keeps the opening closed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-82927 specification discloses a slide door which is provided as an additional component with a driving mechanism. This helps drive the slide door easily, in other words, open and close it without difficulty. Such a driving mechanism usually drives the above described door support member, or a wire connected to the slide door, in the front and rear directions by means of a motor. The wire is guided midway by a guide pulley or the like. In many cases, the guide pulley is provided, for example, in at least two front and rear positions, such as at or near the front-end part and the rear-end part of the guide rail.
In recent years, demand has risen for making larger in the front and rear directions the area of an opening through which passengers get into and out of a vehicle when a slide door is opened. Aiming at meeting the demand, the idea has been presented of sliding the slide door rearward farther than any conventional one. However, if the slide door is slid rearward largely, only a small space remains in the rear part of the vehicle body. This makes it difficult to dispose the one part of the driving mechanism in the slide door, such as the guide pulley, in the space. In other words, the driving mechanism which drives the slide door becomes hard to dispose rearward sufficiently. As a result, if the driving mechanism is installed, that blocks an adequate rearward slide of the slide door. Herein, if the slide door is manually opened and closed, there is no need for any driving mechanism. In that case, the slide door can be slid rearward as far as required.
In addition, if the guide rail is simply extended rearward, there is a disadvantage in that the rear-end part of the guide rail may greatly affect the design of the side part of the vehicle body, thus spoiling its external appearance. In other words, the guide rail is provided, and in addition, the door support member connected on the side of the vehicle body is fitted into the guide rail from the outside of the vehicle body. This needs an arrow opening portion which extends in the front and rear directions along the guide rail in the side part of the vehicle body. This opening portion which extends in the front and rear directions may enormously affect the design of the side part of the vehicle body.
In the rear part of the vehicle body, a tail lamp is disposed at each end part thereof in the vehicle-width directions (i.e., in the right-and-left directions). If the rear-end part of the guide rail is located far apart from the tail lamp in the up-and-down directions, or in another such case, they cannot be well arranged from the viewpoint of design. Hence, the side part of the vehicle body, as a whole, may become uneven in respect of design. This disadvantage could not be bypassed in the case of a private car, especially, a luxury private car, even apart from an automobile for business use whose design is not necessarily important.